Electronic identification is increasingly used in a variety of applications. In at least one of these applications, RFID “tags” may be used to uniquely identify wild or domestic animals. A variety of medical and physical information associated with each individual animal may be recorded on an associated RFID device implanted under the skin of an animal. After an animal is “tagged” with an RFID, the animal's handlers can identify and distinguish animals that have been medically treated or vaccinated from those animals that have not been treated. This identification ensures that valuable resources are not wasted by repeatedly treating the same animals, and ensures that all untreated animals can be identified and eventually treated.
However, implantation of RFID tags can be problematic, particularly in the case of wild animals. Currently, wild animals must be restrained and/or darted with a tranquilizer so that a handler can inject an RFID tag below the skin of each animal. If the amount of tranquilizing agent is too high, the tranquilizer can be fatal. If the amount of tranquilizer is too low, the animals are not actually sedate enough to be captured and handled safely. In many cases darted animals elude their handlers and thereby escape capture, only to lose consciousness later in an uncontrolled area where the animals are vulnerable to predators and scavengers. The inventors have found that approximately twenty percent of the target animals die during the tranquilization/sedation process.
In addition to being dangerous to the animal, the current tranquilization process is time consuming and dangerous for the animal's handlers. Impaired animals are notoriously unpredictable and injuries to handlers are common. Handlers are also vulnerable to a variety of diseases (like Lyme disease) and parasites that can be spread from animals to humans.
The need exists for a safe, non-stressful way to inject an animal with (for example) an RFID tag so that sedation/tranquilization of the animal is unnecessary. The current invention comprises a passive means of achieving RFID tag insertion that is safe for the animal and also safe for the animal's handlers. The current invention comprises a system that includes a controllable and automated bait station and an associated injector mechanism that incorporates multiple safety features to ensure that the animal is safely injected.